


I’ll Always Come For You

by Anonymous



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Power Cut, Protective Castiel, Scared Jack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-10-04 01:23:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17295011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: The power cut is sudden, plunging the bunker into absolute darkness.Nothing to Sam and Dean, and nothing to an angel who can see in the dark.Everything to Jack, who is alone and lost and can only wait for his dad to come and find him.





	I’ll Always Come For You

Cas had just lifted the crate of books down from the shelf when the lights flickered. He paused, glancing up at the ceiling; since the storm from the night before, all the electricals in the bunker had been behaving erratically. The disruptions had been frequent but short lived, and he knew the brothers were worried.

The electrical systems in the bunker were old and though they’d caused the more recent inhabitants of the underground structure few problems in the years since they’d moved in here, he knew Dean and Sam were concerned they were about to make up for that.

And, as if the old building could hear his thoughts, the lights flickered again and went out.

They didn’t come back on.

Cursing in Enochian, Cas set down his burden and made his way out into the corridor. The bunker was equipped with emergency lighting, courtesy of a generator that was supposed to kick in if there was a power failure.

Cas stood there, waiting, but after a minute had passed, and the bunker remained in darkness, he had to conclude that the generator had also been affected, somehow.

And the problem with living in an underground building was that when the lights went out, total darkness was the result.

Which meant it was just as well that angels could see in the dark.

++

He’d left Sam, Dean and Jack in the library, going through the books there in the hope of finding a way to track down Michael. Cas figured that one of the brothers had probably stayed with Jack, while the other went to see if they could do anything about the power.

But when he reached the library, he found both brothers feeling their way around the room, and had to run to catch Sam before he stumbled over a chair and fell.

Sam panicked, and tried to pull away before he realised who was holding him up. “Cas?”

Cas squeezed his arms, comfortingly, and pulled back a chair before setting the younger Winchester down in it. 

“Dean, stay there,” he said, watching as Dean’s outstretched hands brushed the wall and were the only reason he didn’t walk into it face first.

“I’m good,” Dean insisted. “Can’t find a damn flashlight.”

Cas sighed, but went to him anyway, and ignored his cursed protest before depositing him in a chair next to Sam.

He looked around, expecting to find Jack stumbling around in the dark as the brothers had been, but the room was otherwise empty.

Cas glanced down at the two brothers who were looking around blindly. “Where’s Jack?”

“Shit,” Sam said. “He went to the dungeon; I left a spell book in there we thought might help.”

Cas turned immediately in that direction; the dungeon was down a level, and at the other end of the bunker. In the dark, he doubted Jack would be able to find his way back to them.

“Both of you stay here,” he said, and glared at Dean when the older hunter started to protest, even though he knew Dean couldn’t see him.

“I’ll find the flashlight and go see what’s wrong with the damn power,” Dean said.

“No,” Cas said. “You won’t. I don’t want to have to come looking for you, Dean, and you’re keeping me from looking for Jack!”

Sam reached out, fumbling until he could grab Dean’s sleeve. “Dean, come on,” he said. “One of us lost in the dark is enough. Let Cas do this, okay?”

Dean grumbled, but gave in, and Cas hurried back the way he’d come, calling out for Jack.

His cries echoed down all the corridors, coming back to him almost mockingly, and Cas picked up the pace.

Jack was a smart young man, but the bunker was huge, and now it was completely dark. Even Cas sometimes found it unnerving, but mainly because this place had been designed by people who thought anything inhuman (and that included him) deserved nothing less than capture and destruction.

To that end, there were rooms in this place that simply weren’t safe for Cas to enter.

Jack, now that he was human, didn’t have to worry about that, but it didn’t mean it was safe to be wondering blindly around.

Hopefully, Jack had stayed exactly where he was, knowing that Cas would come for him.

Cas was almost to the dungeon when he heard a low sob, and broke into a run.

He burst into the room, and froze at what he saw.

Jack was in the corner, squeezed into the space. He was sitting down, knees against his chest, all bunched in on himself.

And he was terrified, crying out his fear.

Cas knew better than to suddenly approach the frightened boy. Instead, he spoke softly.

“Jack, it’s alright. I’m here.”

Jack used the wall for support as he stood up, and reached blindly into the darkness.

“Cas?” He sounded desperate, hands clutching at the air.

Cas was at his side in an instant, and Jack clung to him, crying and unashamed.

“Cas, I can’t see. It got so dark, I don’t know what happened.”

Cas held him tightly, soothing the boy as best he could. “I think the storm took out the power,” he said. “It’ll be alright, Jack. Nothing can hurt you. I won’t let it.”

He didn’t tell Jack the oft repeated, well meaning lie that human parents told their children, that there was nothing there in the dark that wasn’t there in the day.

There often was, but not in this bunker. And even if there had been, Cas wouldn’t have let it hurt his son.

He kept an arm around Jack’s shoulders as he eased him out of the corner. Jack was shaking, hesitant, only putting one foot in front of the other with Cas’s encouragement.

“It’s alright,” he told the boy. “Sam and Dean are waiting in the library. They’ll look after you while I try to reconnect the power.”

“Do you…”. Jack flinched as his arm brushed the doorway when Cas guided him into the corridor. “Do you know how?”

Cas sighed. “No.” He supposed that meant leaving Jack with Sam, and helping Dean to find a flashlight or guiding him to the circuit box and having Dean talk him through how to repair it, or the generator, whichever proved easier.

“I’ve got faith in you, Cas,” Jack said. “I know you can do it.”

Cas smiled, and felt his cheeks blush, and was grateful Jack couldn’t see it. He kept a tight hold of the boy until he had escorted him to the library, and he called out to let the brothers know he was coming.

“Jack,” Sam said. “You okay?”

Cas eased Jack down into the seat next to Sam, and guided his grasping hand until it came to rest on Sam’s shoulder.

“I’m alright,” he said, though his voice still sounded full and wet. “I don’t like the dark.”

“Yeah, well,” Dean said. “Nothing in this dark’s gonna hurt you, Jack. We’re not gonna let it. Cas, you there?” He held out his hand expectantly.

Cas grabbed it, and held steady as Dean used the angel to get onto his feet without tripping over something.

“Let’s go see about getting the lights back on, buddy, come on. Circuit box is in the kitchen.”

“We’ll need to find a flashlight,” Cas said, “so you can see what you’re going.”

Dean clapped Cas’s shoulder before keeping a hold of it so he had something to guide him. 

“Nah,” he said. “I’ll just talk you through what to do.”

Jack said nothing aloud, but Cas heard his quiet prayer of _told you so_.


End file.
